• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Looking for an upgrade build

T

Tephnos

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 11, 2010
Messages
489
Hey guys. I've had the same PC for about 3 years and am thinking it's about time for an upgrade. It'll be my first custom build, so I'll be learning how to build one as I go.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I will be using it for light gaming (Don't need to run Crysis 2 with 60FPS, for example), photoshop, web browsing, that kind of thing.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget would be around £1000ish I guess. I can go over, depends if the performance is worth it.

3) Where do you live?
UK, specifically, Scotland.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Uhh,
Case
CPU
RAM
GPU
Motherboard
PSU

Those are the essential parts right? Also, if someone could explain RAIDing and HDs that'd go well with that, that'd be great. (My current computer has two 500s in a RAID 0 stripe, but I've never dealt with building it myself)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Don't think I'll be reusing anything, it is an old computer. I think the PSU is 750w, but should I really reuse a PSU that's a few years old? I can check the wattage exactly later on, if I can reuse.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Never had experience with overclocking, and it'll be aircooled, so don't think I should.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I have a 23" U2311h, two of them. (1920x1080)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next few months, as I acquire money. (I'm 17 :p)

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Honestly, I'm not sure. I'll be using a USB external HD to back up data, so I suppose USB 3.0 would be good. RAID is also useful from what I know. I don't think I'll need Crossfire or SLI support, as I don't have a huge monitor and have no need for running more than one GPU. I am unsure of what SATA 6GB/s is and googling wasn't much help. If someone could explain and the benefits it carries that would be most helpful. I'm also interested in using a SSD drive to store the OS, and a normal HD to store everything else. Can someone explain this better and outline the main benefits of speed vs. cost?

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I have Windows 7. currently running 32bit but I also have the 64bit CD, so I'll be running 64bit in the build.


I think that's everything. Please do notify me if I'm unclear on something/missing something out/being stupid, ect. I am new to this sort of thing. :D

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
LC155 said:

Don't think I'll be reusing anything, it is an old computer. I think the PSU is 750w, but should I really reuse a PSU that's a few years old? I can check the wattage exactly later on, if I can reuse.
Click to expand...
Depends on which PSU you have and what you mean exactly by "few years". A good quality PSU can still be reused even after 3-4 years of use. So find out the exacty PSU model and we can determine whether or not it can be reused.

LC155 said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In the next few months, as I acquire money. (I'm 17 :p)
Click to expand...
Ok, two things:

1) Any parts we recommend today may not be the best buy a month from now, let alone 2-3 months from now. As such, if you want up-to-date advice, wait 2-3 weeks before your actual build date, not a few months from now.

2) Don't buy parts over time unless it's a ridiculously awesome deal. Generally, you're better off buying all the parts in one go.

LC155 said:
I am unsure of what SATA 6GB/s is and googling wasn't much help. If someone could explain and the benefits it carries that would be most helpful. I'm also interested in using a SSD drive to store the OS, and a normal HD to store everything else. Can someone explain this better and outline the main benefits of speed vs. cost?
Click to expand...
SATA 6.0Gb/s is a new hard drive interface that allows for higher performance. It's backwards compatible with SATA 3.0Gb/s, the current/previous SATA interface standard. Do note that only SSDs actually benefit from SATA 6.0Gb/s.

Right now, the cost of a SSD as well as their relatively small size makes them unsuitable as the sole storage solution of a PC. However a good balance right now is having the OS on the SSD where it belongs and storing everything else on the HDD. Thus you can save some money by going smaller SSD (usually around the 64GB range) but still have enough storage for all your apps and data. It offers higher perfomrance than a normal RAID 0 hard drive setup but is slower than an all SSD setup. In terms of price, it falls right in between an all hard drive setup and an all SSD setup. So in other words, it's really a best bang for the buck choice.
 
Danny Bui said:
Depends on which PSU you have and what you mean exactly by "few years". A good quality PSU can still be reused even after 3-4 years of use. So find out the exacty PSU model and we can determine whether or not it can be reused.


Ok, two things:

1) Any parts we recommend today may not be the best buy a month from now, let alone 2-3 months from now. As such, if you want up-to-date advice, wait 2-3 weeks before your actual build date, not a few months from now.

2) Don't buy parts over time unless it's a ridiculously awesome deal. Generally, you're better off buying all the parts in one go.


SATA 6.0Gb/s is a new hard drive interface that allows for higher performance. It's backwards compatible with SATA 3.0Gb/s, the current/previous SATA interface standard. Do note that only SSDs actually benefit from SATA 6.0Gb/s.

Right now, the cost of a SSD as well as their relatively small size makes them unsuitable as the sole storage solution of a PC. However a good balance right now is having the OS on the SSD where it belongs and storing everything else on the HDD. Thus you can save some money by going smaller SSD (usually around the 64GB range) but still have enough storage for all your apps and data. It offers higher perfomrance than a normal RAID 0 hard drive setup but is slower than an all SSD setup. In terms of price, it falls right in between an all hard drive setup and an all SSD setup. So in other words, it's really a best bang for the buck choice.
Click to expand...

Thing is, like I said, I'm not after playing Crysis 2 at 60fps. What you recommend to me now, unless something new comes out at the same price, I won't want it. I'm consdiering getting a 6950 2GB as a GPU for example, I doubt that'll change. I'll check out the PSU tomorrow, thanks.

Though honestly, I wanted parts so that I'd have a decent budget goal to work for, then if something did change I could easily bump the thread up before I buy them, asking if it's still good. I like having an idea of what I'm going to get months in advance. I'm just like that.
 
LC155 said:
Thing is, like I said, I'm not after playing Crysis 2 at 60fps. What you recommend to me now, unless something new comes out at the same price, I won't want it. I'm consdiering getting a 6950 2GB as a GPU for example, I doubt that'll change. I'll check out the PSU tomorrow, thanks.

Though honestly, I wanted parts so that I'd have a decent budget goal to work for, then if something did change I could easily bump the thread up before I buy them, asking if it's still good. I like having an idea of what I'm going to get months in advance. I'm just like that.
Click to expand...

Ok I'll be straight with you: UK build lists take a significant amount of time for me to do because the UK does not have all the parts we'd normally recommend for a U.S build, or have them at a reasonable price and/or there are really really slow/poor search functions on the UK sites. Not to mention that, something I've noticed anyway, a lot the specific parts that we do recommend end going out of stock or go up significantly up in price at UK retailers rather quickly.

In addition to the differences in stock, there's also the issue of the general fact that specific parts recommendations will change over time. I.e one week we may be recommending a Gigabyte GV-R695D5-2GD-B Radeon HD 6950 card but the next a MSI R6950-2PM2D2GD5 Radeon HD 6950 card as that Gigabyte has jumped in price or the MSI dropped in price. That's what I meant by "Any parts we recommend today may not be the best buy a month from now, let alone 2-3 months from now". I was talking about specific hardware models as well as general hardware models. And then there's always the possibility of an across the board price drop on a general hardware model i.e like what happened with the GTX 460 and GTX 470 cards.

I'm gonna sound like a dick here but I don't want to spend my time recommending a build list that will be out of date pretty soon for someone who isn't gonna buy the parts soon.

So please come back 2-3 weeks before you actually buy. That way I won't feel like I'm wasting my time and you'll get up-to-date advice.
 
And with that, I'm back. I'm damned sure I'll be able to acquire the parts in less than a months time, probably 3 weeks now. :)
 
Do you have the funds to buy everything this weekend? If not, please wait until you do.

In the meanwhile, which retailers are you planning on buying your parts from?
 
tiraides said:
Do you have the funds to buy everything this weekend? If not, please wait until you do.

In the meanwhile, which retailers are you planning on buying your parts from?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I could. Getting paid on Friday. Is there a reason why this weekend is important rather than the couple of weeks suggested by someone else? Seems a bit of a rush job to grab everything a couple of days after receiving a list.

I'm not too sure on the best UK retailers for PC parts. I'm guessing at least for the UK the usual Amazon/Ebay deals? Unless someone knows better UK sites.
 
Last edited:
LC155 said:
I'm pretty sure I could. Getting paid on Friday. Is there a reason why this weekend is important rather than the couple of weeks suggested by someone else? Seems a bit of a rush job to grab everything a couple of days after receiving a list.
Click to expand...

The reason why we stated "this weekend" is that a lot of deals go back up to regular price or a higher price at the end of the month. New discount deals take place starting a week after the first of the month. This is why what we recommend today might not be a good value (e.g. might become overpriced) next week.
 
Ah, I see. Seems fair enough then. Like I said pretty sure I can purchase it all by this weekend anyway.
 
All the answers to the questions still apply, correct?
 
£165 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
£102 - MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
£70 - 2 x Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
£204 - XFX HD-695A-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
£167 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC0128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SSD
£40 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
£15 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
£90 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
---
Total: £853 plus tax and shipping

Choose your own case. I highly recommend these cases:
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$106 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$165 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$220 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$220 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$290 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Danny Bui said:
£165 - Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
£102 - MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
£70 - 2 x Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
£204 - XFX HD-695A-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
£167 - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC0128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SSD
£40 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
£15 - LG GH22NS50 DVD Burner
£90 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
---
Total: £853 plus tax and shipping
Click to expand...

As an alternative, you could drop the SSD down to a 64GB which would save you about £67. Then you could buy another HD 6950 and crossfire the two cards which would put you at about £990 (just slightly overbudget). Granted you'd have to learn how to crossfire but meh, that's the fun part right?

It really depends on whether you want to game or photoshop. For a lesser gaming rig, use Danny's build, but if you think you might change your mind about gaming in the future, go with the crossfire.

As a side note, I've heard that XFX chips have a harder time unlocking but are still very successful.
 
Lycidas said:
As an alternative, you could drop the SSD down to a 64GB which would save you about £67. Then you could buy another HD 6950 and crossfire the two cards which would put you at about £990 (just slightly overbudget). Granted you'd have to learn how to crossfire but meh, that's the fun part right?

It really depends on whether you want to game or photoshop. For a lesser gaming rig, use Danny's build, but if you think you might change your mind about gaming in the future, go with the crossfire.
Click to expand...

The problem with that plan is that it's gonna require a larger PSU. Not to mention that I did not include a case in that build list. So it's gonna be well above his budget once everything is said and done.
 
Hey, thanks a lot. :)

Now for some quick questions just to set me at ease.

What's the difference between the i5 2500k and the i7 2600k? Granted, I know the second one will be more powerful but by how much and is it worth it?

Is that 6950 one of the cards that can be easily unlocked to the 6970 speeds? I heard some brands don't unlock as well as others.

Is it worth it to get a 6Gb/s HDD since the motherboard is capable of it, or is the speed increase not justified by costs?

Would the 650w give me plenty of spare room if and when I upgraded components in the future?

And finally, those cases, I'm gonna give them a look over but since you recommended them I can assume that they are all great for air cooling? Which one would you rate the best? (Also noob question, I assume the cases come complete with all fans and whatnot needed to get them going? It IS my first build som I'm completely new to this stuff haha)

Thanks for your time. :)

As for the budget, remember I said I can go over it, if the cost is justified.
 
Lycidas said:
As an alternative, you could drop the SSD down to a 64GB which would save you about £67. Then you could buy another HD 6950 and crossfire the two cards which would put you at about £990 (just slightly overbudget). Granted you'd have to learn how to crossfire but meh, that's the fun part right?

It really depends on whether you want to game or photoshop. For a lesser gaming rig, use Danny's build, but if you think you might change your mind about gaming in the future, go with the crossfire.

As a side note, I've heard that XFX chips have a harder time unlocking but are still very successful.
Click to expand...

Well, I have heard about crossfire but know none of the details of it, as in how much performance increase you get, ect.

Do games all the way back to things like Oblivion and the like benefit from crossfire? Remember I'm running a single 1920x1080 monitor. I was under the impression crossfire with modern cards was only really needed for the people that go with 3 way eyefinity gaming (which would never be me) :p
 
LC155 said:
What's the difference between the i5 2500k and the i7 2600k? Granted, I know the second one will be more powerful but by how much and is it worth it?
Click to expand...
In your case and usage, the difference is zilch. Now if you were doing extensive 3D rendering/editing/modeling or video editing/rendering, then the 2600K would have been worth it. But for gaming and Photoshop, which don't take advantage of the HT feature of the 2500K, there's virtually no difference between the two CPUs.

LC155 said:
Is that 6950 one of the cards that can be easily unlocked to the 6970 speeds? I heard some brands don't unlock as well as others.
Click to expand...
Dunno. Unlocking is not part of my criteria for choosing a card.
LC155 said:
Is it worth it to get a 6Gb/s HDD since the motherboard is capable of it, or is the speed increase not justified by costs?
Click to expand...
Nope. 6Gb/s for hard drives is just a marketing gimmick. In fact, at best, they're only equal to that Samsung F3 drive I linked to. But many of those SATA 6.0Gb/s hard drives are indeed slower than that Samsung F3 drive.
LC155 said:
Would the 650w give me plenty of spare room if and when I upgraded components in the future?
Click to expand...
Yes unless you're planning on a high-end multi-GPU upgrade

LC155 said:
And finally, those cases, I'm gonna give them a look over but since you recommended them I can assume that they are all great for air cooling? Which one would you rate the best? (Also noob question, I assume the cases come complete with all fans and whatnot needed to get them going? It IS my first build som I'm completely new to this stuff haha)
Click to expand...
Yes they're all great for air cooling. Best in terms of what? What's the criteria here?

Some of those cases you will have to buy additional fans for better cooling.
LC155 said:
Do games all the way back to things like Oblivion and the like benefit from crossfire? Remember I'm running a single 1920x1080 monitor. I was under the impression crossfire with modern cards was only really needed for the people that go with 3 way eyefinity gaming (which would never be me) :p
Click to expand...
Yes and no: Some of the older games do indeed have crap Crossfire scaling. However that will also be the case with newer games as well. Crossfire scaling with a game is dependent on AMD releasing a Crossfire driver update for that game. Sometimes this takes months.
 
Danny Bui said:
The problem with that plan is that it's gonna require a larger PSU. Not to mention that I did not include a case in that build list. So it's gonna be well above his budget once everything is said and done.
Click to expand...

Yep. It would be a decent amount over his budget. As mentioned it was 990 pounds without case, and then the case would be stacked on top of that. It is arguable whether or not the performance boost would be worth it.


Do games all the way back to things like Oblivion and the like benefit from crossfire?
Click to expand...

Kind of, and kind of not. Some might, but the 6950 should be able to handle those games easily. The double GPU will be useful IF you decide to go for more recent games rather than anything else. As in, it helps to future-proof the build.

Remember I'm running a single 1920x1080 monitor.
Click to expand...

in the OP it was:
I have a 23" U2311h, two of them. (1920x1080)
Click to expand...
 
Danny Bui said:
In your case and usage, the difference is zilch. Now if you were doing extensive 3D rendering/editing/modeling or video editing/rendering, then the 2600K would have been worth it. But for gaming and Photoshop, which don't take advantage of the HT feature of the 2500K, there's virtually no difference between the two CPUs.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. For fun, mostly, over the next year I was going to get into digital painting/3d modelling/programming. But I see your point, even then I don't think I'd need it since I'm presuming you'd only need it if I did that stuff as a job pretty much all the time. :p

Danny Bui said:
Dunno. Unlocking is not part of my criteria for choosing a card.
Click to expand...

Ah, well going by that other guy it does have success. I'll ask around the VG card forum for the best ones and get back to you on that.

Danny Bui said:
Nope. 6Gb/s for hard drives is just a marketing gimmick. In fact, at best, they're only equal to that Samsung F3 drive I linked to. But many of those SATA 6.0Gb/s hard drives are indeed slower than that Samsung F3 drive.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Danny Bui said:
Yes unless you're planning on a high-end multi-GPU upgrade
Click to expand...
Don't ever see myself doing eyefinity, to require that amount of power so I'm good then.


Danny Bui said:
Yes they're all great for air cooling. Best in terms of what? What's the criteria here?

Some of those cases you will have to buy additional fans for better cooling.
Click to expand...

I guess I was mainly thinking which chassis was the best at keeping the temps as low as possible through efficient airflow.

I'll have a look at them now, see which ones I like and get back to you to see which ones need extra fans then.

Danny Bui said:
Yes and no: Some of the older games do indeed have crap Crossfire scaling. However that will also be the case with newer games as well. Crossfire scaling with a game is dependent on AMD releasing a Crossfire driver update for that game. Sometimes this takes months.
Click to expand...

Oh christ, I've heard about AMD's drivers. Well, screw that then haha. :p
 
Lycidas said:
Yep. It would be a decent amount over his budget. As mentioned it was 990 pounds without case, and then the case would be stacked on top of that. It is arguable whether or not the performance boost would be worth it.




Kind of, and kind of not. Some might, but the 6950 should be able to handle those games easily. The double GPU will be useful IF you decide to go for more recent games rather than anything else. As in, it helps to future-proof the build.



in the OP it was:
Click to expand...

I think I'm the kind of guy that if needed an upgrade, I'd probably just go for the latest card rather than deal with the whole AMD crossfire stuff, I think. Don't see myself playing a game that would wreck a 6950/70 with my res in the foreseeable future.

As for the monitors, yeah I did say I had two of them but only one is ever going to be used for gaming at any one time haha. :p
 
LC155 said:
I guess I was mainly thinking which chassis was the best at keeping the temps as low as possible through efficient airflow.
Click to expand...

In that case, I'd give the nod towards the Silverstone Raven RV02 case.
 
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$220 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$220 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$290 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case[/QUOTE]

These are the ones that I've taken a liking too at first glance. Which ones require the extra fans?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
LC155 said:
*snip*
These are the ones that I've taken a liking too at first glance. Which ones require the extra fans?
Click to expand...
All of thos cases will be fine with the stock number of fans.
LC155 said:
Just noticed this after posting. This case?

http://www.amazon.com/SILVERSTONE-RV02B-W-Steel-Tower-Computer/dp/B002M78KZG?tag=atmlinr-20

Looks nice, I could consider it. How does it stack up to the ones I liked above?
Click to expand...

Yes that's the case. It's of slightly higher quality than all of the Coolermaster cases you chose.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Danny Bui said:
Depends on whether or not you trust Powercolor and if the two year warranty will suffice for you.

Though if it was me, I'd spend the extra cash for the XFX.
Click to expand...

:cool:

Ah. Well, I checked out the card and the one you listed apparently can be OC'd. Just need to find info on how to do that and then I should be all set for buying everything. Thanks for the help, man. :)

(I don't need to buy Arctic silver or anything to affix the CPU right, does it come with paste?)
 
LC155 said:
Also, what's the difference between the RAM you chose and this:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb(...cc-unbuffered-cas-9-9-9-24-new-connector-160v

Pretty much the same price but apparently higher performance? I'm not too sure on the RAM side of things.
Click to expand...
No difference in performance actually. They're rated at the same clock speed and have the same timings so there's no way the RAM you linked can be faster. However I don't recommend the RAM you linked because it's rated in between 1.5V to 165V whereas the RAM I linked to is rated 1.5V even. Lower voltage means higher chance of longevity.
LC155 said:
Edit: and the SSD you linked to died, damn. :p
Click to expand...

Then find it at another online store or look up the Crucial C400 series SSDs or Intel's 320 or 510 series SSDs.
 
Hey, back with an update.

Got all parts sitting here, except the PSU. SCAN was out of stock when I ordered so I'm waiting on them to get some more in since it's on pre-order.

Quick question. I plan to OC my i5 to 4.5Ghz minimum (Since I read it's really easy to do, probably more if I have a good chip) and the GPU to around 6970 speeds (without using the 6970 bios exactly as I heard that has problems). I don't think cooling will be a problem with the case, but how about the PSU? Is 650w still plenty for it?
 
Thanks. :)

Okay, last question (watch this space...)

In the future, would it ever be worth buying a CPU heatsink, or is it just not really that justifiable given the case? And if so, know any good ones for the board?
 
You should decide now whether or not you want to buy the third-party CPU cooler. If you buy it after assembling everything, you'll have to remove the motherboard from the case before you can mount the third-party cooler.

For your needs, however, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't stick with the stock HSF.
 
tiraides said:
You should decide now whether or not you want to buy the third-party CPU cooler. If you buy it after assembling everything, you'll have to remove the motherboard from the case before you can mount the third-party cooler.

For your needs, however, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't stick with the stock HSF.
Click to expand...

Even though I'll be OCing the CPU?

When I said light gaming I meant that I wouldn't need to play all the latest releases, but I'd still play with a heavily modded Oblivion/Skyrim, for example. Just because I love those games. :p

Sorry if I sound a bother, just trying to gauge my best options and gian knowledge at the same time.
 
Update:

Went with the Hyper 212, and was recommended to go with the HX650w instead of the TP 650 from a scan employee as they still had no ETA on the Antec.

Good move to go with the Corsair HX650w?
 
Well thanks for everything guys. Got the thing finally all built today.

(I went with a Antec 750w Blue since it was around the same price and they had it in stock)

2nlbrlx.jpg


Excuse the crappy phone pic. But how is the cabling? I did the best I could with what came with it, and I should probably get a splitter so I can plug the push/pull fans into the one CPU fan socket, but that's later.

(I don't know jack shit about cabling so tips would be welcome :p)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top